India Mobile Congress (IMC) is one of the biggest
marquee Mobile, Internet, and Technology event for South and South-East Asia,
with the theme, “New Digital Horizons – Connect. Create. Innovate.”,

IMC 2018 began on
a grand-scale at AeroCity, New
Delhi with over 300 companies, 20 countries
participating in this prestigious event in the Asia Pacific region. Shri Manoj
Sinha, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister
of State for Railways, accompanied by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble
Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law &amp; Justice,
Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce &amp; Industry and Civil
Aviation, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent
Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministers and dignitaries from Cambodia,
European Union, Lao-PDR, Myanmar, Mauritius, Nepal, South Africa inaugurated and
participated in this 2 nd edition of the epoch marking event, which began in
2017 to build a collaboration platform for technologies and services in next
generation mobile communications. The inauguration ceremony was attended by
over 5000 people from 10 partner countries, and included policy makers,
ambassadors, opinion makers, change agents, bureaucrats and investors.

Hon’ble Minister,
Shri Manoj Sinha, announced that the Indian telecom industry will rollout one
million WiFi hotspots in the country by December 2019, which is another step
towards the digital empowerment of the nation. Bharat Wi-Fi, a country-wide
common inter-operable platform of one million Wi-Fi Hotspots, owned and
operated by Telecom Service Providers, Internet Service Providers and Virtual
Network Operators will be rolled out across the country. This initiative allows
consumers to access Wi-Fi Hotspots of any of the partnering operators.

The National Frequency
Allocation Plan 2018 (NFAP) was unveiled during the inauguration presenting a
pioneering roadmap for the Indian digital communications industry. The NFAP released
a quantum of 605 MHz license exempt spectrum in 5GHz band for Wireless Access Services
and Radio Local Area Networks in outdoor, to meet the ever-growing appetite for
data (from a current figure of 50 MHz since 2007). The NFAP also offered over
30 license exempt bands for Short Range Devices (SRDs), Ultra-Wideband Devices
(UWDs) and additional spectrum for M2M services, creating opportunities for the
public to enjoy benefits from technologies and enabling the industry to build
domestic manufacturing

ecosystem. India signalled
its spectrum plans for 5G services aspiring to adopt the next generation
technology as a leading market.

In a major policy
initiative, which will give impetus to small and medium entrepreneurship in Telecom
Sector, DoT decided to deduct payments for resources taken by Virtual Network Operators
(VNOs) from telecom service providers, thereby reducing levies payable by VNOs.
This avoids double taxation at various stages.

A concrete plan
is in making by the DoT to enable homegrown technologies for trials in the field
on a large scale to enable the development and the scaling up of the products
and services.

The day 1 has
witnessed many rousing announcements by the industry and demos of the state of
the art 5G applications by global OEMs. Investments of approximately over INR 2000
crores and over 3 lakh jobs are expected to be created.

S. No.
Organization / Company Announcement Relevance for India

1.a. Samsung and
R Jio 5G Live Demo of The Skyship Drone

Applications in
public safety and surveillance, agriculture monitoring and disaster response.

Nokia’s
state-of-the-art manufacturing unit in Chennai will start large scale
manufacturing of 5G New Radio enabling made in India for the World.

4. Ericsson

Export of 5G ready
equipment from India Ericsson started exporting 5G ready telecom equipment from
its manufacturing facility in Pune,

to global
markets. Its state-of-the-art facility will cater enabling made in India
for the World

5. BSNL, Airtel,
JIo,

Vodafone idea

One Million WiFi

Hotspots across

India

The telecom
industry will install 1 million Wi-Fi hotspots in the next 12 months.
Interoperability across different WiFi networks thereby enabling smooth
experience for subscribers, as he or she will be able to use the data plan
taken from any TSP for all the WiFi Hotspots deployed across India. Besides offering
consumer delight, this industry initiative will create additional 3 lakh jobs.

Speaking at the
inauguration, Shri Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge)
for Communications and Minister of State for Railways, said, “Introducing the second
edition of the India Mobile Congress is a proud moment for us. Last year, we witnessed
an overwhelming response from everyone and we are confident that IMC 2018 will
reach to the next level of success. The country is at the cusp of a digital
revolution, with disruptions happening in each and every sector and industry.
With growing smartphone and internet penetration and with the finalisation of
National Digital Communication Policy 2018, these are exciting times for the
telecom sector, and the society at large. We are elated to have the support of
the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship in addition to such enthusiastic participation
from who’s who of the industry. IMC 2018, will not only attract investors, it
will also witness the launch of several innovative products, encourage emerging
startups, and promote futuristic

This edition of
India Mobile Congress will comprise of ASEAN and BIMSTEC Ministerial Conclave,
Partner Programs in Digital India, SmartCities, Emerging Technologies, Make in
India
projects, Skill Harmonisation, Business Innovation and Knowledge Sharing. There
will be a technology exhibition, offering a peek into connected villages,
virtual and augmented reality, connected cars, m-health, smart wearables, smart
home, artificial intelligence, robotics, smart energy, internet of things,
block chain, and machine learning among other things. IMC 2018 will also hold a
special plenary session on upcoming network technologies such as 5G.

IMC 2018 will
also host a Global CEO’s Conclave where stalwarts from the global technology arena
will come together and deliberate on the future of technology and how it will
bring about paradigm shifts in the way we go about our daily lives. Discussions
will revolve around the power of content, networks of the future, open source
technology and emerging technologies. The event will showcase a DigitalVillage, complete with live experience
zones, exhibits on interactive technology, and live demonstration booths on a
variety of interesting concepts, hinged around the Internet of Things,
Augmented and Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Smart City
Solutions, Fintech, Health-tech, Autonomous Cars, and Cyber Security, amongst
others.

Luminaries in the
inauguration.

The Programme is
jointly organised by Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecommunications)
and COAI which is graced by the presence of the following Guests of Honour,
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Electronics and Information Technology
and Law &amp; Justice, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and
Industry and Civil Aviation, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State
(Independent Charge) for Housing &amp; Urban Affairs, Smt. Aruna
Sundararajan, Secretary (T) and Chairperson, Telecom Commission.